Office panelling systems are now recognized as one of the best approaches for subdividing office space into individual work units or cells due to the flexibility of such systems to be changed to meet changing needs as well as the ability of the system to be dissembled and moved to other sites. Panelling systems now have the capability of conveniently providing high capacity power to particular work stations as well as allowing the distribution of communication wires and the like to work stations.
TEKNION* office panelling systems have gained wide acceptance in the marketplace and the structure of this panelling system is generally shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,535,577, which is incorporated herein by reference. This system has individual office panels interconnected, with each office panel having an interior frame which supports decorative or functional cover elements to the exterior of the frame. Various horizontal channels are provided for securing of office accessories, such as work surfaces and overhead bins. This panelling system has gained wide acceptance in the marketplace and provides power at desk height. FNT *TEKNION--trademark of TEKNION FURNITURE SYSTEMS
Panelling systems which support work surfaces to either side thereof are the most common system in North America, whereas in Europe, the approach has been to provide a desking system which is capable of supporting panels or partitions thereon. These two alternative approaches each have advantages and disadvantages. For example, in some cases, it is desirable to have a number of work surfaces laid out in a particular arrangement without any panels associated therewith. In other cases, it is desirable to merely subdivide the space without the need for work surfaces. In the first case, a desking system is more desirable, whereas in the second case, a panelling system is more desirable. These systems, because of the different principles involved, operate basically independently of the other type of system. There remains a need to provide a system which addresses the various demands of the marketplace while accommodating the ability to readily alter any work space environment. There also remains a need to provide a system where the storage of additional components is reduced.